Germany’s DRF Luftrettung today signed a power-by-the-hour service agreement with Eurocopter, ensuring optimized technical support with fixed maintenance costs and minimized downtime for this air rescue organization’s large helicopter fleet.

DRF Luftrettung currently operates 45 Eurocopter helicopters for emergency medical services, composed of the EC145, EC135 and BK117 versions. In 2011, the company agreed to purchase 25 enhanced EC145 T2s, which will provide a new-generation successor for its BK117s.
“We signed this agreement to ensure optimal technical support and rapid response time for our fleet of rescue helicopters,” said Steffen Lutz, CEO of DRF Luftrettung.

The power-by-the-hour service agreement signed today at the Heli-Expo 2012 exhibition covers a 10-year period and represents a business volume of approximately 80 million euros.

“Ensuring the best customer service is a top priority at Eurocopter, and we will ensure all of our resources are available in fulfilling the new power-by-the-hour agreement with DRF Luftrettung,” said Wolfgang Schoder, Eurocopter Executive Vice President Programs.